News of the Day From Across the Nation, Feb. 28

Chronicle News Services

Published
4:33 pm PST, Friday, February 27, 2015

1Education bill: House Republican leaders on Friday scrapped a vote on legislation to update the No Child Left Behind education law in the face of conservative opposition. Senior GOP officials said it’s unclear when a vote will take place. The bill would keep the annual testing requirements on schools but give much more control to states and districts over funding and setting policy. Opponents include conservative groups such as Heritage Action for America and Club for Growth. Democrats also dislike the bill, and the White House had threatened to veto it.

2Space station: American astronauts will venture back out for a spacewalk this weekend, despite a helmet water leak on their previous trip outside the International Space Station. On Friday, NASA managers in Cape Canaveral cleared astronaut Terry Virts’ spacesuit for the last of three spacewalks, set for Sunday. Mission managers believe they understand the quirks with this suit, and insist it is safe to use. A small bit of water leaked into Virts’ helmet at the end of Wednesday’s spacewalk. NASA said he was never in danger. The astronauts are routing hundreds of feet of cable, essential for the arrival of new American-made crew capsules in another couple years.

3Biden ailing: Vice President Joe Biden abruptly canceled a planned trip to Uruguay on Friday, citing a bad cold that he’s been fighting for days. Yet he planned to move ahead with a later visit to Guatemala, keeping the vice president out of the country during Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s controversial speech to Congress. Biden had been scheduled to lead the U.S. delegation to incoming President Tabare Vazquez’s inauguration on Sunday in the capital of Montevideo. Instead, he’ll travel directly to Guatemala on Monday for the second and final leg of his trip. The White House said the U.S. would still send a delegation to Vazquez’s inauguration.

4PCH reopens: Authorities have reopened the final 3 miles of Pacific Coast Highway near Malibu that were inundated with mud and rocks during December storms. The famed highway south of Sycamore Cove Beach and north of Malibu reopened Friday afternoon. Nine miles of PCH in Ventura and Los Angeles counties were buried under as much as 6 feet of debris in some places from hillsides that slid because of storms in early December. A 2013 fire had left the hills barren of vegetation. In addition, high surf washed away slopes below some parts of the highway. The California Department of Transportation says it removed 4,000 truckloads of dirt from the three-mile stretch. Much of it was used for the highway repair work.

5Seat belt laws: Maine lawmakers are considering a bill to allow adults to opt out of wearing seat belts just days after a 75-car pileup that injured at least 17 people. Republican Sen. Eric Brakey said Friday that it’s “unfortunate timing” coming right after what is thought to be the largest crash in state history. He says he believes people should wear seat belts but sees a mandate as government overreach. Opponents argued that repealing the seat belt law will result in more traffic deaths and the loss of federal grants. New Hampshire is the only state that doesn’t mandate seat belts for adults. The Transportation Committee also considered two bills that would prohibit people from using a handheld cellphone while driving.